Who loves fennel?! I do (obviously) and so does my husband and a handful of other folks I’ve met but for the most part when I explain that the key vegetable that goes into one of my favorite salads is a licorice tasting bulb I sometimes get funny looks. One must taste to believe. This is a very light & summery fennel recipe and complements both fresh and roasted dishes.
Ingredients:
- 3 fennel bulbs (with stalks) rinsed, bulbs quartered and cut into chunks, stalks chopped in 1/2′ – 1″ sections or sliced in a food processor
- 2 apples, diced or finely sliced
- 1-2″ piece of pureed or shredded ginger, according to taste
- 1/4 cup fermented onion brine from a previous batch (optional)
- 1 lemon, sliced
- 3% salt (I ended up using 3 3/4 Tbsp kosher salt)
- avocado oil for the top
- Fermenting weight or small jar, sanitized
- 68oz mason or big pickle jar
Method:
- Wash all vegetables and sanitize jar, fermenting weight and lid in the oven at 175 degrees for 5 minutes.
- Wash hands and prepare vegetables. With this type of ferment I like to toss them together in a large bowl before I stuff them into the jar. Weigh the empty jar if you are adding salt by percentage. Note the weight. Add non-chlorinated water or fermenting liquid if needed.
- Calculate salt percentage by weight and add to the jar.
- Cover with avocado oil to keep the bacteria out.
- Set in the fermenting weight, close the lid and leave to ferment for 2 weeks or longer.
I very much enjoy these slightly odd tasting vegetables, especially after fermentation. Culturing always bends the flavors a bit and brings out a unique bite that is wondrously void of bitterness. Not that fennel is really bitter but I find that it comes out almost smoother in flavor. The finished cultured liquid is fantastic in place of vinegar in dressings as well. I hope you enjoy this one!
Apple, Ginger, Lemon & Fennel Cultured Salad
Equipment
- Fermenting weight or small jar, sanitized
- 68oz mason or big pickle jar
Ingredients
- 3 fennel bulbs with stalks rinsed, bulbs quartered and cut into chunks, stalks chopped in 1/2′ – 1″ sections or sliced in a food processor
- 2 apples diced or finely sliced
- 1-2" piece pureed or shredded ginger according to taste
- 1/4 cup fermented onion brine from a previous batch optional
- 1 lemon sliced
- 3 % salt brine I ended up using 3 3/4 Tbsp kosher salt
- avocado oil for the top
Instructions
- Wash all vegetables and sanitize jar, fermenting weight and lid in the oven at 175 degrees for 5 minutes.
- Wash hands and prepare vegetables. With this type of ferment I like to toss them together in a large bowl before I stuff them into the jar. Weigh the empty jar if you are adding salt by percentage. Note the weight. Add non-chlorinated water or fermenting liquid if needed.
- Calculate salt percentage by weight and add to the jar.
- Cover with avocado oil to keep the bacteria out.
- Set in the fermenting weight, close the lid and leave to ferment for 2 weeks or longer.
